


Incident at the Leaky Cauldron

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marauders' Era, Pre-Slash, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius is late for a meeting in the summer holidays, Remus tries to find out what happened. They are not together yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incident at the Leaky Cauldron

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

It had been their last summer holidays of Hogwarts, and Remus had planned to buy his books, a new quill and some ingredients for potions for their final year. He entered the Leaky Cauldron where he was to meet Sirius. James and Peter had already bought their books and equipment at the beginning of the holidays.

Now it was the end of July, and Remus and Sirius had planned to spend their day together in Diagon Alley and then go to the Blacks home for a day or two.

Tom, the bartender of the Cauldron, watched as Remus walked in from Muggle-London and sat down at one of the tables, nervously playing with the butterbeer before him. He watched the fireplace and glanced repeatedly from the door to the street, waiting anxiously for his friend.

About an hour after they had agreed to meet, Remus went to the bar to talk to Tom. "I was supposed to meet a friend of mine. Tall, black-haired. Have you seen him?"

After thinking for a moment Tom answered "Well, before you came somebody similar to your description entered. He did not look well, I have to say. He was with a man who took a room. I think the man left the Cauldron half an hour ago."

"And Sirius, I mean, my friend, he is still in that room? Which room is that?"

"Normally I am not supposed to tell you," Tom reluctantly started to protest.

"Please, I have to know." Remus' eyes were pleading.

"But Ill make an exception. Its room No. 15."

In an instant Remus went to the stairs that led to the guest-rooms and easily found room No. 15 on the second floor. He knocked, and when he did not hear a sound, he grabbed the handle to try to open it. It was locked.

"Alohomora", he muttered. With a silent snap, the door opened.

It was a normal guestroom, two beds, a table, two chairs, a wardrobe. The curtains were drawn, enveloping the room in a shadowy darkness.

There seemed to be nobody in the room, and Remus just wanted to turn around and leave the deserted room when he noticed a movement in one of the beds. It seemed as if something was lying underneath the covers, a body, someone, Sirius?

He went over to the bed, and then he saw a mop of black hair spilled across the pillow. Indeed, it was Sirius. But why was he lying in the bed instead of meeting him, Remus, down in the Cauldron?

With caution he removed the cover from Sirius head. He was lying on his stomach, his long, black hair tangled in all directions. Sirius refused to move at all.

Padfoot, what happened? Why didn't you come to meet me? Remus asked, knowing instinctively that something had to be seriously wrong.

Still there was no answer from the prone form.

Padfoot!

Now the body underneath the blanket moved, a moan was audible, and a face grimaced with pain appeared.

Black eye, scratches across the cheeks, bruises all over the face and neck. Traces of tears mixed with blood and sweat. Remus gasped at the sight before him.

"Remus, go, please just go!" he croaked in a thick voice.

Instead of doing what Sirius asked, Remus sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down on his friend's bruised face.

Sirius shifted, and Remus saw his shoulder under the blanket. Naked, bruised, bloody-- the sight nearly made him gasp.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, wincing.

"Nothing!" Sirius said with determination and reached out to draw the blanket closer over his body. His arm was bruised, too.

Remus turned around to brush Sirius hair from his face.

"DON'T touch me!" he almost screamed.

"Padfoot what the hell has happened to you?" The softly spoken words were nevertheless urgent, wanting desperately to hear what had happened to his friend.

"I told you, nothing happened!" a broken voice replied, muffled by the blankets.

"Padfoot" Remus prodded softly, trying to be calming and soothing.

"I - I went here with a neighbour of ours, he is a wizard, too. He he wanted to go shopping and offered to take me for a ride." It seemed as if Sirius wanted to disappear underneath the blanket as he tugged it above his head again.

"Padfoot, please tell me, why are you here and not down there in Diagon Alley?" Remus asked, trying to sound comforting, while at the same time trying to mask the urgency of the question.

"He - he brought me here" He started shifting and tried to turn around, but stopped with a cry of pain. He laid down again, closing his eyes.

It seemed to Remus that his Sirius was not going to say any more about what happened. But he had to know. He couldn't sit and pretend nothing had happened, but he also didn't want to push him. He had to do something, rather than just sitting around and waiting.

Remus gently tugged the covers back from his friend's shoulder. Black and angry red from blood. And mud where did the mud come from?

"Sirius - Padfoot - I'll be back in a minute. Just lie here, everything's going to be all right", he said soothingly. Sirius tried to nod, but even that seemed to be painful.

Remus got up and left the room. Across the hallway there was the bathroom. Remus entered and took a towel from a wardrobe. He wet it with hot water and returned to room fifteen.

Sirius remained the way he had left him, except that the covers were tugged over all of his body again. But he was looking at Remus as he entered the room.

"Padfoot, I'm going to clean you. I need to pull the blanket now. Is that OK for you?" He sat down on the edge of the bed again.

Sirius nodded. "It doesn't matter. Nothing really matters", he murmured, resigned.

"Padfoot, that's not true. YOU matter. YOU are important", he said, and added hardly audible, "to me."

Did he see something like a hint of a smile on Sirius face? He could have imagined that as well. But at least he seemed to relax a little.

He tugged away the blanket and started to clean his friends skin. He held the towel in his hand and stroked and caressed and cleaned the boy's body with the warm, wet fabric. He started wiping the blood and dirt from his face and his cheek. Sirius closed his eyes as Remus caressed and cleaned his forehead. Soothingly, he worked down towards his mouth, cleaned bitten and swollen lips. Then he wiped over his chin and neck, back up to the ears, full of mud.

How the hell did the mud come to be in his ear? And where did all the blood come from?

Carefully he tugged the blanket further from his friends back. When he started to rub his shoulders with the warm towel, Sirius flinched. Soothingly Remus whispered into his ear: "Padfoot, its only me. Its all right. I need to clean you. Just relax and everything will be ok."

Remus knew nothing would be OK, but Sirius needed to be comforted.

He continued whispering and cleaning his friend. As he tugged away the blankets, he saw even more scratches, dirt, bruises. And even a bite. Who would do something like THAT?

Remus carried on washing Sirius' battered body. He felt the trembling form beneath his blanket, quivering and sobbing. Gently, as to not hurt him any more, he slowly wiped his back. Slowly, carefully, he cleaned his arms and hands.

By the time he had cleaned both arms and hands, the towel was too cold and dirty to continue. Padfoot, he whispered, I need to go and wet the towel again. Ill be back in a minute. He dragged the blanket back over Sirius shoulders, stroked him lightly over the head and left the room.

When he returned after a moment, Sirius looked up. "Moony", he whispered softly, then he closed his eyes again.

Remus carried on cleaning the young man. He slowly rubbed the dried blood from his waist and gently wiped over his whole back when he was done. Sirius was very calm now, and didn't even flinch when Remus touched the bruises or scratches.

Then he tossed the blanket back over Sirius' bottom and startled. That was where all the blood came from!

Carefully he cleaned his best friends bottom, trying to ignore the blood and the sickness that built in his stomach. And Sirius moans of pain. Finally he finished that part of the bruised body.

Remus quietly said: "I need you to turn you around." Sirius just nodded, looking slightly afraid. He knew it would hurt to lay on his back.

The brown-haired boy laid his hands on Sirius waist and carefully dragged him to turn him on his back. He heard his friend cry out from pain, and hot tears were streaming down the tense face.

"Padfoot, please, just relax. I'll do the best I can to hurry up, so that you can turn back again." Slowly stroking his shoulder, he tried to comfort and calm him.

He cleaned Sirius as quickly and gently as he could, stroking his bruised chest, the belly caked with blood and mud, the groin, thighs and legs.

He turned him back as carefully as he could. Again Sirius hissed from pain, his eyes were filled with tears.

Remus tossed the towel on the floor. Then he stroked Sirius head gently, like he did with the Blacks dog when he visited Sirius at home. He felt the boy underneath his hands, warm and trembling, shivering. And sobbing.

Remus went to the other bed, grabbing the blanket to cover his friend with something dry and clean.

Then he sat down on the edge of the bed, bending over the other boy, stroking his head and shoulders, whispering: "Padfoot, its OK. Everything's going to be all right. You are not alone, I am here with you."

It took a while until Sirius dared to look up again. His pain could still be seen clearly in his eyes, dark eyes, sore and red from crying.

"Moony. Thank you, thank you for coming and not leaving me."

"I would never leave you alone", Remus stated quietly. Sirius looked thankfully into his eyes. Remus was still stroking his head, still calming his friend, still comforting him.

It was getting dark now, must have been late, long after 10 pm. Sirius closed his eyes, finally getting calmer and relaxing under Remus' stroking hands.

Remus, too, was getting calmer and very tired. "Padfoot, I - may I lay next to you?" he whispered. "But You don't need to say yes, I could sit here with you."

He felt his friend shifting in the bed, providing space to lay down. Please don't leave me.

Remus pulled off his robe and lay down next to Sirius. It was a small bed they were in, and it was inevitable that they were touching. At the first touch, Sirius flinched, but after a moment he slid back into the slight form, letting Remus pet his head, and slowly he allowed himself to snuggle at Remus chest.

Still stroking the dark-haired boy's head, Remus also closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.


End file.
